Gaming machines using multiple personalities

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes determining player information for a player. A game personality is determined for a gaming machine. The game personality is a set of behavior characteristics for the gaming machine. It is determined if a solicitation for a gaming machine is triggered by applying the player information for a player to the game personality. The solicitation is performed for the player if the solicitation is triggered.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional App. No.61/235,308 for “Gaming Machines Using Multiple Personalities” filed Aug.19, 2009, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND

Particular embodiments generally relate to gaming and, moreparticularly, game functionality for providing gaming machines withmultiple personalities and a bonus attract mode.

Gaming establishments, such as casinos, are always attempting to attractmore players to their establishments. For example, gaming establishmentsmail promotions to players with offers that are designed to get theplayer to come to the casino and require that the player travel to thegaming establishment to receive the offer.

The gaming establishments hope the player comes to the gamingestablishment to collect the offer and then continue to stay to spendmore money on different services (e.g., gambling, food, etc.). In somecases, however, the player may collect the offer, but not stay verylong. Also, some players simply ignore the offers that are received inthe mail because the offer itself is not worth the effort required totravel to the gaming establishment.

Gaming promotional offers are sent from a system external from the game,such as the hotel management system or from the player tracking system,and may cover a wide range of promotions, such as free play on anygaming machine to a free night stay at the gaming establishment's venue.The promotional offers are also established ahead of time to lure highquality players to play at a particular venue during a specific timeinterval or event. This system attempts to lure the player back to thegaming establishment after the player has left, which may make it harderto get the player back to the gaming establishment to take advantage ofthe promotion. Thus, promotions may need to be very attractive to theplayer and may increase costs to the gaming establishment because ofwhat the promotion needs to offer.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method includes determining player information fora player. A game personality is determined for a gaming machine. Thegame personality is a set of behavior characteristics for the gamingmachine. It is determined if a solicitation for a gaming machine istriggered by applying the player information for a player to the gamepersonality. The solicitation is performed for the player if thesolicitation is triggered.

In another embodiment, a method comprises: determining a gamepersonality for a gaming machine that is not being played, the gamepersonality being a set of behavior characteristics for the gamingmachine; triggering a solicitation offer for the gaming machine that isnot being played based on the game personality; causing the gamingmachine to enter an attract mode to offer the solicitation offer; andparticipating in the solicitation offer on the gaming machine when aplayer interacts with the gaming machine in response to the attractmode.

In another embodiment, a system comprises: a plurality of gamingmachines, wherein a portion of gaming machines include different gamepersonalities, the game personality being a set of behaviorcharacteristics for the gaming machine; wherein each gaming machine isconfigured to: determine player information for a player; determine if asolicitation for a gaming machine is triggered by applying the playerinformation for a player to the game personality; and cause thesolicitation to be performed for the player if the solicitation istriggered

The following detailed description and accompanying drawings provide abetter understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a system for providing gaming machines withmultiple personalities according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed example of system for providing bonusesaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts one example of using game personalities according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4A shows an example system for providing a bonus attract modeaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 4B shows a second example of a system for providing the bonusattract mode according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for determiningwhether a player should be solicited according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for determiningactions to perform according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described herein are techniques for a gaming system using gamepersonalities. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous examples and specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the presentinvention. Particular embodiments as defined by the claims may includesome or all of the features in these examples alone or in combinationwith other features described below, and may further includemodifications and equivalents of the features and concepts describedherein.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a system 100 for providing gaming machineswith multiple personalities according to one embodiment. System 100includes multiple gaming machines 102. Gaming machines 102 may bestand-alone gaming machines or may include a cluster of gaming machines.For example, a cluster of gaming machines may be N number of gamingmachines that may be networked together.

For example, a cluster of gaming machines may be offering the same gameor related games where players may play the game together or singularly.In one embodiment, gaming machines 102 may offer games of chance orcasino games, such as video poker, slots, keno, or other games.

Each gaming machine 102 may be designed at the time they are built orretrofitted with the hardware and software for gaming machine 102 toimplement the methods of particular embodiments. Each gaming machine 102may have a programmable computer controller that allows the gamingmachine to be programmed and communicate with any type of network orwireless system and any communication means necessary to communicatewith any players, needed to implement particular embodiments. Particularembodiments provide gaming machine control logic including gamepersonalities that may be combined with player profile information atthe gaming machine to make decisions on how the game may interact withthe player in real-time. Gaming machine 102 may include personalitycontrol logic external from game logic. Personality control logic maycontrol the solicitation of players based on the player profileinformation and game personalities. Game logic may control the gamebeing played by the player on gaming machine 102. The personalitycontrol logic may be included in gaming machine 102 or in an externalsystem 106. Also, the personality control logic may be included in thegame logic.

A server 104 may be coupled to gaming machines 102. Server 104 may beconfigured to communicate information to gaming machines 102. Forexample, player profile information may be sent to gaming machines orstored at the gaming machines 102 or collected in real time allowing thegaming device to create its own player(s) profile. Also, server 104 maydetermine actions that should be performed by gaming machines 102, aswill be discussed below in more detail. In one example, server 104 mayact as a controller that controls gaming machines 102.

External system 106 may include the game personality logic and be usedto control gaming machines 102 to implement the actions based on gamepersonalities as described below. Also, gaming machines 102 may includethe game personality logic, or the game personality logic may bedistributed.

Particular embodiments use game personalities to determine variousactions to perform. Player profiles may be compared to gamepersonalities to determine an action to perform for different players.Game personalities will be described first and then player profiles andactions that can be performed. Examples using the game personalities arethen described.

Game Personalities

Game personalities may be used to allow a gaming machine 102 tocommunicate with players to create a relationship between players andgaming machines 102. Gaming machines 102 may be given differentpersonalities traits similar to different human being traits for playersto create relationships with gaming machines 102 based on theirpersonalities.

Gaming machines 102 may have different personalities. However, somegaming machines 102 may have the same personality, but in system 100, atleast two gaming machines 102 have different personalities. Gamepersonalities may be any behavior characteristics that may be designedfor a gaming machine 102 that allows the gaming machine to communicatewith players to develop relationships with the players by providing themwith information, entertainment, offers, bonuses, interaction, etc. Gamepersonalities may comprise a plurality of game behaviors compiledtogether in unique combinations to form the basis for unique gamepersonalities. The game behaviors may be a set of characteristics thatis associated with a gaming machine 102. For example, the set ofcharacteristics may be a set of instruction, rules, parameters,features, offers, bonuses, etc. The set of parameters may determinedifferent actions the gaming machine may perform, such as parameters fordifferent offers/bonuses or amount of money each offer/bonus is worth.The set of rules may be applied to different types of information todetermine actions for gaming machine 102. For example, player profileinformation may be run through the personality rules to determine anaction to perform. The set of instruction may be applied to action to beperformed by gaming machine 102. For example, when a gaming machine 102has not been played for a period of time it may be instructed to go intoa bonus attract mode to solicit player to play the game by offering themprizes if they play a predetermined amount of money in game play. Thegame personalities may provide the player with information pertaining tothe game, casino, or anything else.

The parameters may be a set of specific game behaviors generated at thetime of game creation or may be downloaded from external system 106 tothe gaming machine 102 once gaming machine 102 has been placed on thegaming establishment floor (and connected to a network 108).Additionally, game personalities may be changed. For example, the gamepersonalities may be changed in between player play sessions bydownloading a new game personality from external system 106 to take theplace of the pre-defined game personalities or be operable for aparticular play session or time interval. Game personalities may alsomorph or change over time based on how players play and interact withthe game without any interaction from an external system 106, or basedon the win loss outcomes of the game being played on the gaming device.

The actions that may be performed are dynamic and may affect game playfor the player. One action may be solicitations that may affect futuregame play for the player, such as awarding bonuses, etc. For example,actions such as one or more of the following may be provided: Favoriteplayer(s), trigger events, Bonus Budget, Game Type, Denomination, BonusGame Type, Bonus Times, Fast Reel Play, Fast Card Deal, Slow Reel Spin,Slow Card Deal, Casino Comp Promotions, Casino Free Play, Game FreeSpins, Game Random Bonus, Rare Promotional Offers, Generous PromotionalOffers, and other game actions.

The solicitation of the player may be performed because gaming machine102 has some offer or promotion for the player based on its personality,the player profile, the players or games activity or the combination ofIn one embodiment, different game personalities allow gaming machines102 to provide different offers to particular players. For example, whencertain player profile triggers an offer based on the characteristics ofa gaming machine's personality, the gaming machine 102 may communicatethe offer to the player. The solicitations, offers or bonuses may beused by gaming machine 102 when it is not being played to attractplayers to play the gaming machine in real-time. The specific actionswill be described in more detail below.

Different gaming machines 102 may have different personalities. Thus,different offers may be determined by different gaming machines 102based on different factors. For example, different players may receiveoffers from different gaming machines 102. The use of differentpersonalities allows the gaming establishment to implement gamingmachines 102 that offer unpredictability in their actions. This may makethe gaming environment more fun for players, attract more players, andkeep players in the gaming establishment longer.

Player Profiles

Player profiles include information specific to each player. The playerprofile may collect player play behavior compiled during the player'sreal-time game play, such as a specific game play session on aparticular gaming machine 102. Additionally, non-real-time data may beadded to the player profile, such as information for table games played,bets placed, play on gaming machines 102, and any action performed inand out of the casino that may be collected in real time or that aplayer may provide, such as favorite food, movies, games, casinos,vacation spots, hobbies, etc. Real-time play profiles may includeinformation automatically collected from the games being played by theplayer, such as bets greater than some predefined value, bets sequencingin some predefined value, bets below some predefined value, timeinterval between spin button presses, frequent cash-outs with playstarting back up quickly, games played, lucky player receiving over somespecific number of bonuses, lucky player receiving over some specificgame win, unlucky player receiving less than a specific amount payoutover a play session time interval, preferred denomination, game type,and other player real-time personalities.

Player profile information may also include a player's preferences. Thepreferences may be automatically derived from a player's play or providefrom a players questionnaire. For example, the preferences include aplayer's favorite machine(s) and games. The favorite gaming machines 102may be determined based on a percentage play at a gaming machine 102 fora player. Similarly, the favorite games may be determined. Other profileinformation may describe the player, such as a player's age, sex, etc.

In one embodiment, a player profile may be established by externalsystem 106 or server 104 and downloaded to one or more gaming machines102. Gaming machine 102 uses the player profile to interact with thegame personality of gaming machine 102 to offer dynamic game features,promotions and offers to the player during a player's play session. Inanother embodiment, the downloaded player profile may be augmented withreal-time player profile information. The augmented profile may bematched up with the game personality to provide additional actions, suchas game related features, promotions and offers for the player matchingone or more game personality criteria. For example, a game personalityof fast play, generous promotional awards and free spin bonuses maymatch up with a player whose real-time player profile is comprised of ashort time interval for spin button presses, large bets and nocash-outs.

Actions Performed based on Game Personalities and Player Profiles

The combination of game personality with a specific player profile mayresult in different actions being performed. The different actions maycommunicate an offer to a player currently not playing gaming machine102 directly. The solicitations or offers may be used by gaming machine102 when it is not being played to attract players with bonusopportunities to play gaming machine 102 in real-time. The solicitationmay be while a player is still in the gaming establishment or the playeris outside of the casino, e.g., at home. For example, while a player isplaying another gaming machine 102, an offer to play another gamingmachine 102 may be communicated to the player. Also, gaming machines 102may detect when players are nearby using global positioning satellite(GPS), player tracking information, motion detectors on the gamingdevices or any wireless communication device.

Players with specific player profiles may be defined and matched up withgaming machines 102 with specific game personalities thus enablinggaming machine 102 to entice only certain matching players. Particulargaming machines 102 may use particular player profiles with one of thedifferent personalities associated with gaming machine 102. Becausedifferent players have different player profile information associatedwith them and gaming machines 102 different game personalities,different gaming machines 102 may offer different offers to only certainplayers. In one example, individual gaming machines 102 may determinewhich offers to provide to a player. Also, a program on a server 104 maymake the determination and send messages to various gaming machines 102that they should solicit different players.

In one example, a unique promotional offer is generated for a playerdirectly from gaming machine 102 during game play. For example, a gamingmachine 102 with a specific personality that has not been played by aplayer for a specific time interval may optionally join with one or moreother gaming machines 102 (e.g., ones with similar gaming personalitiesor by a specific manufacturer or game theme) that have not been playedfor a specific time interval to offer a special bonus prize to aspecific player, a group of players or any player the gaming device canattract, solicit or communicate with. The offer is intended to enticeplayers to play gaming machine 102 that is soliciting the players.

When gaming machine 102 attempts to entice a specific player to play it,gaming machine 102 may send out communication to the player. The gamingmachine may be designed or retrofitted with special attract features,such as sounds, lights, messaging, bonuses, etc., to attract players,enhance the players game play experience, and increase play time on themachine. Also, other communication methods may be used, such as textmessages to cellular phones, personal computers, e-mail, messages froman external system such as a player tracking system that can locate aparticular player and route messages from gaming machine 102 to theplayer, or communications sent to an in-house phone system used to leavea message for the player in their hotel room phone or local home phone.Gaming machine 102 may also use the existing player tracking system tocommunicate with players. When the player uses his/her player card at agaming machine or at a player card kiosk/terminal, a message may beoutput to the player. Also, a special section at the player cardkiosk/terminal for players to receive messages may be used. The messagesmay provide player profile information, the location of gaming machineswith offers, redemption of bonuses, special messaging, etc.

Also, actions may alter game play of a player currently playing gamingmachine 102. For example, game personalities may cause actions to beperformed based on the player profile of the player during a particularplay session. Based on how the player interacts with, and plays, thespecific game during a play session, starting by the insertion ofcredits onto the game and continuing until game play stops for somedefined interval of time marking the end of the session, gaming machine102 compiles player information and forms a real-time player profile,independent from the player tracking system, to reflect the player'sbehavior during a particular play session. The player information may bean amount wagered, games player, win loss, play strategy used (e.g.,which cards are held), and how many games played during a time period.This information is compared to the game personality and different playmay be offered to maximize play for the player based on the playerprofile.

The game personality may be compared with player play statistics todetermine when to offer the bonus. For example, if the game personalityhas a goal of a certain amount of active play by players, then aftersitting idle for an amount of time, a bonus may be determined. Differentplayers may also be solicited or the bonus may be open to all players.To determine different players, player profiles are compared to thepersonality and selected. For example, players that have shown apreference for playing this gaming machine 102 may be selected.

The bonus may be awarded to the winner of the special bonus prize ononly those gaming machines 102 that were enabled to offer the specialbonus prize. To win the special bonus, a game is configured to triggerthe bonus win based on a random event, predetermined event, moneyplayed, a specific combination of symbols, cards or other indicia eitherbased on the games pay table or set up external from a pay table. Uponthe trigger of the bonus by gaming machine 102, communication betweenthe gaming machine 102 may provide the bonus game or a bonus payout.Gaming machine 102 communicates the bonus prize payout to the player byadding credits to the game, a gaming machine lock up requiring anattendant to go to the specific gaming machine and pay the player or bythe generation of a ticket, or providing a card or other physical outputfrom the game that can be validated to be a special bonus payout.

The bonuses may be funded in different ways. For example, bonuses madeavailable to gaming machines 102 may be funded using a promotional prizepool set aside by the gaming establishment for X bonuses per day, apredefined payback prize pool where a specific percentage is held fromonly those games configured to support bonuses to be awarded to thewinner of the bonus or a progressively growing prize pool based oncontributions by all gaming machines 102 equipped with the gamepersonality. The bonus may also be funded by promotional allowances,which may be revenue that is not directly from coin-in. For example, thepromotional allowances may be a percentage or any revenue generated fromgaming establishment that is used to fund prizes for the players.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed example of system 100 for providing bonusesaccording to one embodiment. The bonus pools may be managed by anexternal system 106, local controllers 202, gaming machines 102, managedcentrally by server 104, or any combination thereof.

Gaming machine 102 a with a specific personality configuration that hasnot been played by a player for a specific time interval may join withother gaming machines 102 with similar gaming personality configurationsor with gaming personality equipped games that have not been played fora specific time interval to offer a special bonus prize to enticeplayers to play the gaming machines. A personality configuration may bewhen a gaming machine 102 has not been played for a random orpredetermined amount of time, gaming machine 102 goes into an attractmode and solicit players to play the machine 102 to receive apromotional offer and/or bonuses.

Also, gaming machines 102 may go into an attract mode and solicitplayers with an opportunity to receive or win prizes if they play thesoliciting gaming machine 102. Gaming machine 102 may also be programmedto communicate with other gaming machines 102 that are not being playedto solicit players together as a team.

To win the bonus, game machine 102 a may be configured to trigger thebonus win based on the amount of money played on gaming machine 102, ona specific combination of symbols, cards or other indicia either basedon the games pay table or set up external from a pay table. A win mayalso be a random win not based on any particular game feature on theparticular gaming machine, but rather generated by the game personalitycontrol logic.

Communication between the gaming machine 102 a, bonus controller 202,server 104, or external system 106 occurs such that bonus control logiclogs a bonus win and manages the bonus prize payout. The payout may becommunicated to the player by adding of credits, a gaming machine lockup requiring an attendant to go to the specific gaming machine and paythe player, or by the generation of a ticket, card or other physicaloutput from the game that can be validated to be a special bonus payout.Also, bonus prizes may be communicated to a player in other waysincluding direct communication from gaming machine 102 a, graphical andaudio communication at a display 206 (either integrated with gamingmachine 102 a or separate), or over a wireless communication connectionto a communication machine such as a communication device (e.g., a cellphone) 204.

EXAMPLES

Different examples will now be described. FIG. 3 depicts one example ofusing game personalities according to one embodiment. Players 302 and304 may be solicited by gaming machines 102 a and 102 b, which areequipped with a specific personality configuration 306.

Players 302 and 304 have specific player profiles that may be defined byexternal system 106 and be related to games with specific gamepersonalities. When a specific personality that matches a particularplayer profile 306, a gaming machine 102 attempts to entice one or morespecific players, such as players John 302 and Fred 304, to play gamingmachine 102. Gaming machine 102 may send out a communication usingdifferent methods, such as text messages via a wireless connection tocellular phones, or system messages over network 108 to an externalsystem such as a player tracking system or server 104 containing playerprofile information to locate player 302 and 304, route messages fromthe gaming machine 102 to the players 304 and 302 over network 108 to anin-house phone system, such as a Voice-over-IP phone system, leave amessage for the player on his/her hotel room phone, directly to theplayer's home phone, or using other communication methods that may beavailable within the gaming establishment.

Two gaming machines 102 a and 102 b may be located anywhere within thegaming establishment. Gaming machine 102 a has not been played for 20minutes. Gaming machine 102 b includes a game personality that matches aspecific player profile 306 (e.g., John) and sends a message to theexternal player tracking system 104 to route a message to display on thegaming machine 102 b game screen or player tracking screen for John.Also, a text message may be sent using wireless communication fromgaming machine 102 a to another player (e.g., Fred). For example, themessage may be sent to a cell phone or other device different fromgaming machine 102 a being played.

A message is displayed on a game screen of gaming machine 102 b for Johnto see. Also, a text message is sent over a wireless communicationnetwork to Fred's cellular phone to indicate that gaming machine 102 ais available to play for a $10,000 bonus located in a position (e.g., ongaming bank 20, game 2). A code, such as code Z1A1, may be displayed ongaming machine's 102 a screen for the next 25 minutes or until the nextplayer plays it before that time. In another embodiment, displaytechnology, such as video screen technology, may be used to allow thegaming machine 102 a to visually communicate with the player withoutinterrupting the existing game. Any existing gaming machine may beretrofitted to display any messaging. The special bonus relatedinformation may also be displayed on an external display 308 located inone or more locations within the gaming establishment.

To avoid sending unwanted messages, a player may opt in to receivecommunication messages from gaming machines. For example, when a playersigns up for a player tracking card, the player may indicate whether ornot the player would like gaming machines 102 to contact them with anoffer to play for a special bonus.

Gaming machines 102 may also be used to solicit players playing othergaming machines 102. For example, while player 304 is playing gamingmachine 102 b, gaming machine 102 a may solicit the player. In oneexample, gaming machine 102 a may send a message to gaming machine 102 bthat would display a message on gaming machine 102 b. The message may be“Here's your promotion. Please come play gaming machine A1Z1 to redeemit.” Or a gaming machine may solicit its favorite player playing anothergaming machine 102 with free game play if the player comes in the next15 minutes. In this way, gaming machine 102 a can solicit players whoare playing other gaming machines. Additionally, a private message maybe sent to player 304, such as a text message. This may be useful whengaming machine 102 b is made by another manufacturer and the solicitinggaming machine 102 a can not communicate with the other gaming machine102 b for various reasons.

In other embodiments, gaming machines 102 may audibly solicit theplayers. For example, when it is detected that a particular player isnearby the gaming machine such as by the reading of an RFID device wornby the player, or a motion sensor connect to the gaming devices, thegaming machine 102 can announce to the player that an offer is availablefor that player, thus preventing the player from leaving the gamingestablishment or from going to another group of machines. Other methodsof communicating with players may be through electronic signage,displays, video screens, e-mail, kiosk messages, regular mail, or othermethods.

For example, a game personality may indicate that when gaming machine102 has not been played for a predetermined period of time, gamingmachine 102 should request information of 10 players that have lost themost amount of money over the last 30 minutes. Gaming machines 102 wouldthen randomly select as least one of the players and send a message tothat player stating “if the player plays gaming machine #117 located atX location, he/she will receive 10 free game plays”.

Gaming machine 102 may send out a message to all players that agree tobe solicited and the first players that play twenty dollars in gamingmachine 102 wins a bonus. Gaming machine 102 that has not be played fora random or predetermined period of time may also solicit playersoutside of the casino for example at home with an offer or bonus if theycome and play the machine. Also, gaming machine 102 may provide playerswith information such as progressive levels or information about theplay on the gaming device.

In a similar embodiment, a gaming machine 102 that has not been playedfor a certain period of time may determine to solicit its favoriteplayer or it may just go into a bonus attract mode. Favorite players maybe players that match a set of player profile characteristics withspecific game behaviors defined within the gaming machine's gamepersonality. For example, a certain amount of play on gaming machine 102may indicate that this gaming machine is a favorite of a player. Thegame personality may indicate a threshold of play for determining afavorite player. Also, the percentage of play on this gaming machine 102compared with all other gaming machines in the gaming establishment maybe used. For example, if the player plays 20% of time at this gamingmachine, the player is considered a favorite.

In other embodiments, the game personality indicates that gaming machine102 should notify its favorite player or players with a particularplayer profile that a winning hand (e.g., four aces with a kicker) hasnot been won/hit for a certain amount of time (e.g., 3000 hands or 2days). The player profile includes the player's play history informationthat the player plays for four aces with a kicker, and gaming machine102 may solicit the player. Furthermore, in the player profile theplayer may request for progressive gaming machines to notify the playerwhen the progressive value reaches a predetermined value selected by theplayer. Gaming machine 102 may also notify the player if it is moved toa new location.

A bonus attract mode is designed to lure a player or customer to playgaming machine 102 (that is close enough to be aware of the bonusattract mode) and for the opportunity to receive a bonus. For example,gaming machine 102 may determine a player that has won a certain amountof money at gaming machine 102 and try to get the player to changegaming machines 102 to play this gaming machine. The bonus attract modemay determine when there are players close enough to be aware of thebonus offer. This determination may be made by querying a playertracking system for real-time player profile information, which mayprovide where players are currently playing machines. Also, globalpositioning software for devices (e.g., a player's card, cellular phone,any wireless device) may be used to determine where clusters of playersare in the gaming establishment. Optical devices may also detect thatplayers are nearby. Gaming machine 102 may also detect which of gamingmachines 102 near by are being played.

In one example, server 104 may check the gaming establishment gaming are(e.g., casino floor) to determine were there are the most playersplaying games. The closest gaming machine 102 to the most players may gointo bonus attract mode. The bonus may be selected based on the gamepersonality. For example, gaming machines 102 that go into bonus attractmode select their own bonus promotion based on the game personality,which may specify the type of bonus.

By allowing gaming machines 102 to solicit players, it is possible thegaming machines 102 that have games manufactured by one manufacturer maysolicit players who are playing at a gaming machine 102 of anothermanufacturer. In this way, the manufacturer may be able to solicit orentice players to play their games and lure players away from othermanufacturer's games.

In another bonus example, gaming machines may have a daily budget forplayer bonusing (e.g., $25.00). One of the gaming machine's personalitytraits may comprise when gaming machine 102 has not been played for acertain amount of time (e.g., three hours) the gaming machine triggersitself to go into bonus attract mode. Another trait may be gamingmachine 102 determines it will bonus the next player who plays ten gameson the gaming machine an amount of $15.00. In one example, the videoscreens of the device may change colors and display “Bonus of $15.00 forthe next player to play ten games on this gaming machine”. Also, gamingmachine 102 may be designed to make sounds to attract surroundingplayers and to communicate audibly in a human voice saying, “Bonus tothe next player to play ten games”. The cabinet of gaming machine 102may also chance colors and have lights and LEDs installed on variouslocations of the gaming machine's cabinet that turn on and off in avariety of different sequences to attract players in the generallocation of gaming machine 102.

Gaming machines 102 may automatically team up with other gaming machinesnot being played without any player interaction or external control. Inone embodiment, once a gaming machine that is not being playedautomatically determines that it is going into bonus mode to attractplayers to play it, the gaming machine may communicate with other gamingmachines 102 not being played to attract more players. Based on a gamepersonality, gaming machine 102 may automatically decide that all gamingmachines 102 that have not been played in the last hour will go into thebonus attract mode. This may go on until player(s) plays each of thegaming machines 102 or may continue for a predetermined interval oftime.

Gaming machines 102 that have not been played may be defined as thosegames casino wide, those games within a specific casino quadrant, thosegames “near” the bar, those games “near” the buffet, those games locatedon a single bank of games, and those games located on a plurality ofbanks “near” the bonus initiating gaming machine 102. The gamingmachine's definition of “near” may include the definition of apredefined number of games located by quadrant, section or locationwithin the casino and may also include only those games created by thesame manufacturer within a particular area or on a particular bank ofmachines.

A grouping of gaming machines 102 may thus be determined. The groupingmay then go into the bonus attract mode. By grouping multiple gamingmachines 102 together, this may cause multiple players to leave gamingmachines 102 to find a gaming machine 102 that is offering a bonus. Inone embodiment, gaming machines 102 may all offer and award the samebonus. In other embodiments, gaming machine 102 may not offer and awardthe same bonus, thereby providing players with a plurality of differentbonuses, promotions and awards.

The gaming machines may be operable to communicate with each otherdirectly, with or without the use of an external system, and offer acommon bonus. The gaming machines may also establish a common prize poolof money and award a Big Bonus to a single lucky player playing one ofthe gaming machines. Each gaming machine in the bonus mode may try tocontact specific players or simply attract any player that may bepassing by the gaming machine or is close enough to be attracted to thegaming machine in order to play it and have an opportunity to win aBonus.

FIG. 4A shows an example system for providing a bonus attract modeaccording to one embodiment. Gaming machines 102 for multiplemanufacturers may be provided on a gaming floor. These manufacturers arelabeled as manufacturer #1, #2, and #3. A manufacturer may be companyoffering the type of game being played, a manufacturer of the gamingmachine, or any other entity that has an interest in the game. As isshown, players are playing gaming machines for manufacturer #1 and #3.When gaming machines for manufacturer #2 are not being played, they maygo into a bonus attract mode. It will be understood that gaming machinesfor manufacturer #2 may be currently be being played by a user, butstill may go into a bonus attract mode.

FIG. 4B shows a second example of a system for providing the bonusattract mode according to one embodiment. The gaming machines ofmanufacturer #2 may attract the players through various methodsdiscussed above. A result of the attract mode may lure players fromother gaming machines. As shown, players from moved from gaming machinesfor manufacturer #1 and #3 to gaming machines for manufacturer #2. Thus,manufacturer #2 has successfully attracted players from other machines.Also, a new player is now playing a gaming machine for manufacturer #2.The bonus attract mode may have caused the new player to play.

Methods

FIG. 5 depicts a simplified flowchart 500 of a method for determiningwhether a player should be solicited according to one embodiment. Themethod may be performed at server 104, gaming machine 102, at anothermachine, or any combination thereof.

Step 502 receives information regarding a player. For example, playerprofile information, such as that located within a player's playprofile, may be historical information about which games a player hasplayed from a player tracking system. Player profile information mayalso be real-time information for a player that has been playing gamesfor a certain time period, such as the last hour or two. Otherinformation regarding a player's profile, such as which games a playerprefers, etc. may be included.

Step 504 determines if the player profile information triggers asolicitation offer for the player. For example, the player profileinformation may be run through a number of gaming machine gamepersonalities. That is, the player profile information may be runthrough a set of rules for each game personality. A solicitation offermay be determined when the player profile information is run through thegame personality that triggers an offer.

Step 506 determines if an action should be taken. If not, the processreiterates to step 502.

If an action should be taken, step 508 determines a method ofcommunicating with the player. As discussed above, different methods ofcommunicating with the player will be appreciated.

Step 510 then solicits the player using the determined method tocommunicate the solicitation offer. In one example, if it is determinedthat a player is losing money at one gaming machine, then a gamingmachine at which the player has previously won money may determine thatit should offer the player a promotion. The promotion may be “Receive acertain amount of credits if you come play this gaming machine in acertain amount of time.”

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified flowchart 600 of a method for determiningactions to perform according to one embodiment. Step 602 determinesinformation regarding a player. Step 604 analyzes the information basedon characteristics of personalities of gaming machines 102. For example,server 104 may run player profile information through a plurality ofpersonalities for gaming machines 102.

Step 606 selects a gaming machine where the player profile informationtriggers an action to be performed by the gaming machine based on thebehavioral characteristics of the game personality of the gamingmachine. For example, the player profile information may be run througha large number of gaming machine game personalities either at the gamingmachine 102 or at the server 104.

One of the game personalities may trigger one of a plurality of actionsto be performed. One such action may be a solicitation to one or moreplayers matching the game personality that caused the triggered tooccur.

Step 608 sends a message to the selected gaming machine to allow thegaming machine to perform the action. For example, server 104 may send amessage to a selected gaming machine indicating that the gaming machineshould solicit the player with a certain offer selected from a pluralityof offers and promotions.

Particular embodiments may be implemented in a computer-readable storagemedium for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, system, or machine. The computer-readable storagemedium contains instructions for controlling a computer system toperform a method described by particular embodiments. The instructions,when executed by one or more processors, may be operable to perform thatwhich is described in particular embodiments.

As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow,“a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural references unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein andthroughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and“on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The above description illustrates various embodiments of the presentinvention along with examples of how aspects of the present inventionmay be implemented. The above examples and embodiments should not bedeemed to be the only embodiments, and are presented to illustrate theflexibility and advantages of the present invention as defined by thefollowing claims. Based on the above disclosure and the followingclaims, other arrangements, embodiments, implementations and equivalentsmay be employed without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gaming machine programmed to solicit one or more players to play the gaming machine comprising, a) a programmable computer controller associated with the gaming machine; b) the programmable computer controller programmed so that the gaming machine can communicate with a network; c) the programmable computer controller programmed to enable the gaming machine to communicate with at least one player; d) the programmable computer controller also includes gaming machine control logic that provides the gaming machine with a game personality; e) each player having a player profile that is maintained on an external system which is associated with the gaming machine control logic; and f) the gaming machine including a personality control logic that allows the gaming machine to solicit a player based on the player profile information and the game personality.
 2. The gaming machine of claim 1 in which the game personality includes behavior characteristics that allow the gaming machine to communicate with the player to develop relationships with the player by providing the player with information, entertainment, offers, bonuses or interactions.
 3. The gaming machine of claim 1 in which the game personality includes a plurality of game behaviors compiled together in unique combinations to form a unique game personality.
 4. The gaming machine of claim 3 in which a game behavior includes a set of characteristics that is associated with a gaming machine.
 5. The gaming machine of claim 4 in which the set of characteristics includes a set of instructions, rules, parameters, features, offers and bonuses.
 6. The gaming machine of claim 5 in which the set of parameters determine different actions the gaming machine may perform.
 7. The gaming machine of claim 5 in which the parameters determine the different offers, the different bonuses, the amount of money for the different offers and the amount of money for the different bonuses.
 8. The gaming machine of claim 5 in which the set of rules determine the different types of information to determine actions for the gaming machine.
 9. The gaming machine of claim 8 in which a personality rule is used with a player profile information to determine an action to perform.
 10. The gaming machine of claim 5 in which the set of instructions determine an action to be performed by the gaming machine.
 11. The gaming machine of claim 10 in which an instruction would place the gaming machine in bonus attract mode when the gaming machine has not been played for a period of time.
 12. A gaming system including a gaming machine programmed to solicit one or more players to play the gaming machine comprising, a) a programmable computer controller associated with the gaming machine; b) the programmable computer controller programmed so that the gaming machine can communicate with a network; c) the programmable computer controller programmed to enable the gaming machine to communicate with at least one player; d) the programmable computer controller also includes gaming machine control logic that provides the gaming machine with a game personality; e) each player having a player profile that is maintained on an external system which is associated with the gaming machine control logic; f) the gaming machine including a personality control logic that allows the gaming machine to solicit a player based on the player profile information and the game personality; g) a server coupled to the gaming machine; and h) the server configured to communicate information to the gaming machine.
 13. A gaming system including a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine programmed to solicit one or more players to play the gaming machine comprising, a) a programmable computer controller associated with the gaming machine; b) the programmable computer controller programmed so that the gaming machine can communicate with a network; c) the programmable computer controller programmed to enable the gaming machine to communicate with at least one player; d) the programmable computer controller also includes gaming machine control logic that provides the gaming machine with a game personality; e) each player having a player profile that is maintained on an external system which is associated with the gaming machine control logic; f) the gaming machine including a personality control logic that allows the gaming machine to solicit a player based on the player profile information and the game personality; g) a server coupled to the gaming machine; and h) the server configured to communicate information to the gaming machine.
 14. A method comprising, a) providing a gaming machine having at least one special attract feature; b) when the gaming machine has not played for a specific time interval, the gaming machine sends out a communication to a player soliciting the player to play the gaming machine.
 15. The method of claim 14 in which the special attract feature is a light.
 16. The method of claim 14 in which the special attract feature is a sound.
 17. The method of claim 14 in which the special attract feature is a message.
 18. The method of claim 17 in which the message is a text message sent to a cell phone.
 19. The method of claim 17 in which the message is a text message sent to a personal computer.
 20. The method of claim 17 in which the message is an email message.
 21. The method of claim 17 in which the message is sent from an external system such as a player tracking system that can locate a particular player and route messages from the gaming machine to the player.
 22. The method of claim 17 in which the message is a communication sent to an in-house phone system used to leave a message for the player in his hotel room or local home phone.
 23. The method of claim 14 in which a display is provided on the gaming machine so that a communication may be sent to a player who is playing the gaming machine and the communication does not interrupt the play of the gaming machine.
 24. The method of claim 14 in which a player card kiosk may be included at which the player can receive messages from the gaming machine. 